Both girls take swimming classes. Sue and I both feel it is good for them to be comfortable in water and to know how to swim. They may learn it in school like I did, but I think starting early is well worth the investment. Both kids are doing well in their classes. Emelia does not like the male instructors so it’s always a challenge to find a class that she can attend since there are few advanced classes and most are taught by males. The past couple of classes were held during the week so Sue has had to take time off to bring her. Caitlin is still in the more basic classes, which are plentiful, but crowded.

Emelia really enjoyed her dance class at the beginning of the year and I cannot tell you how many times Caitlin has watched the video of Emelia’s recital since June. It was a no-brainer decision to put both of them into dance class. There has only been a couple of classes, but Caitlin is doing well. She is a bit young, but has interest. The next month should tell if she is old enough to continue. Emelia is in a more advanced class this time and is doing very well. She’s very interested and loves the class. The instructor is the daughter of the person that taught her previous class.

Something new for both of them that we let them try this round is gymnastics. They saw a gymnastics class last year and they both were nutty about it. We broke down and let them both take the class. It’s not much of an investment and they both seem to like the class. Only time will tell if we continue with this class. These are recreational, not competition level classes. It’s not a bid deal if they choose not to continue.

That pretty much sums it up for Caitlin, but Emelia has two other classes. Both of her other classes are ones that we want her to take. The first is piano class. She’s taken quite a few music appreciation classes and short piano classes and she has enjoyed them all. Emelia loves singing, music and dance so learning how to play music may be something she will continue to enjoy. So far she loves the class and according to Sue, she volunteers eagerly for everything. We bought her a piano keyboard for practicing.

The other class that we put her in, mostly for her own good than for fun is Chinese class. Sue and I both strongly feel she needs to be able to speak fluent Chinese. There is a limit to how much Sue can teach her and sometimes having somebody teach her fundamentals in a classroom setting with other kids is beneficial. This does not mean that Sue and I are off the hook. If anything having Emelia attend class has invigorated the amount of teaching that we have to do at home. It also means that Sue speaks to all of us (me included) in Chinese nearly 95% of the time. Just like piano class this class follows the school year.

Come next September we’ll need to make a choice as to which classes Emelia will continue to take. She starts kindergarten next September and will not be possible for her to continue with all of these classes in addition to school. She won’t get much homework from school, but she will probably have some, which takes precedence over other classes and work. I expect her to continue with swimming, piano and Chinese school. Whether she continues with dance, gymnastics or both is yet to be seen. Sue feels she will drop gymnastics, but I feel it is too soon to determine which she’ll want to pursue.

Caitlin on the other hand will likely continue with her swimming next year. She may start to take a few music classes, just like Emelia did at the same age. We’ll have to see how she does with her dance and gymnastics before we decide if she’ll continue with either.

In the mean time having to attend all of these classes for both girls takes a toll on all of us. I’m responsible for taking both girls to dance and for taking Caitlin to swimming and gymnastics. Sue is on the hook for taking Emelia to gymnastics, swimming, piano and Chinese school. This usually means that we are busy running around 3 weekdays and all weekend for the kids. That coupled with normal jobs, chores, taking care of house and side work that I do is leading to two tired people. It sounds worse than it really is as most classes are only 30 minutes long, but we feel it is worth it. The kids love the classes and want to continue.

One pleasant side affect, which I’ve noticed during the past two weeks is that I hardly notice that Sue speaks Chinese to us anymore. I won’t claim I know what she is saying all the time, but I find it much easier to listen and be able to understand what she says without thinking too hard. The girls are showing improvements in their Chinese listening and speaking skills. Emelia is also learning how to both read and write Chinese. It won’t be long before both girls surpass my ability to understand and speak Chinese. Emelia is already showing that she understands how some words are pronounced better than I.

Here is Caitlin posing with the car all decked out with my bike on the rack.

It was certainly an investment, but thankfully it only takes a new fit kit to put this on a different car. And thankfully this car uses 58” bars, so I can load it with two bikes and the cargo box.

To celebrate and to break it in nicely I picked up Caitlin from daycare early and took her out for a bike ride. Earlier in the day I talked with somebody about kayak classes and found out where they teach the classes. When checking it out I happened upon a local bike trail. This is the trail that I took Caitlin when we went for a ride.

This was my first real ride since hurting my ankles months ago. It was great to get out and enjoy the great weather. Taking Caitlin out for a ride was also a test to see if she could handle it. I would not want to bring my bike and carrier on vacation if she wasn’t willing to ride. I got her very excited about the ride and she showed some nervousness while I was strapping her in, but that went away immediately as we got on the trail.

We went a couple miles before stopping to take pictures of the river that the trail follows. Caitlin was really enjoying herself.

It was a nice view of the river.

We road 3.5 miles on way and back to the car and then another 2.5 miles in the other direct and then back. In all we did a solid 12 miles of riding. Caitlin was done after about 10 miles, but put up with the last 2 miles. Her biggest issue was that she was hungry. If she didn’t want a snack we could have gone further. She enjoyed the ride and view.

When we got back we walked down to the river where there was a small boat launch. You could launch a kayak or canoe here.

Caitlin told me that it looked like the plants were dancing. I had to get her to say it again on video just to capture it.

Dancing Plants from xiaoniu on Vimeo.

Taking a water break. Caitlin insisted that I take a picture of her. I’m one to oblige.

Posing for daddy to take a picture.

More posing. Caitlin did all this on her own without any input on my part. I just took her pictures as she asked. What a ham.

After visiting the water we snacked on a couple of granola bars and enjoyed the silence. It took some coaxing and there was plenty of whining, but I was finally able to get Caitlin on her way to the car. She was very insistent on staying home even when I told her mom was waiting for her. That usually gets her moving, but not this day. She said, “No, not now. I said no now daddy!” Very insistent on staying until she was ready to leave. I guess you could say that she enjoyed herself.

I spent most of Friday running around doing errands as well as getting ready for the party. Nothing like impending guests to make you want to clean house. I also took the time to decorate the house nicely this year. I was disappointed with myself last year so I made up for it this year. It was simple, but the girls loved it.

And now for the pictures.

Neil, Jess, Amy and Ivan

Amy holding Ivan

Caitlin with a silly photo face

A more natural, surprise look from Caitlin

Jason enjoying the food

The little ones sitting at their own table. I remember those days.

After snacking we all got a chance to catch up with each other. Sue was a slave to the stove cooking up a wonderful meal of chicken parm for the family. Shortly after the big meal it was time to open presents.

Emelia in her hat with braids. She spent all of Sunday and part of Monday in this hat.

Opening presents from great-grandma

Time for hugs

Last, but not least, it was cake time.

This is not a typical face for Caitlin, but it is her silly, take my picture face. James and Emelia do the same thing, although, Emelia is a little less harsh. It’s cure regardless. I took this picture as the girls were playing with their cookie baking toys. Caitlin has on an oven mitt holding a tray of frosting. Emelia at the moment has the cookies and knife. It’s all wooden and not dangerous, but the girls like to use them to “bake” for mom and dad.

Today marks Caitlin’s second birthday. She’s come a long way in two years and I can honestly say I can’t remember life without her in it. She fills my life with love and excitement. Caitlin was a 100% momma’s girl last summer, but now she is making her way to being a daddy’s girl. We spend our share of one-on-one time and she loves all of it. We also go to swimming class together.

At two years old she is a very intelligent, beautiful person that is stubborn as a mule. Once she has her mind set up it takes a team of people (or some bribing) to change it. It’s her strength, but it is something that causes us plenty of trouble.

She’s come a long way with talking as well. Although she is not as talkative as Emelia she does chat away when she is in the mood. Her pronunciation is improving. Once she has a word down she pronounces it correctly. The words she doesn’t know too well ends up sounding like an alien language. Thankfully, we can usually figure out what she wants or she can show us so that we can learn. Her latest activity has been singing along with us or music on the radio. She can usually keep up pretty well even when she doesn’t know the words. It’s very cute to experience.

Just like Emelia she doesn’t have much for hair. Sue trimmed her curls once, but other than that has not had a real haircut. She loves having her hair up and doesn’t miss many days without her hair up (much like the picture above).

I feel blessed to have three wonderful women in my life. Happy Birthday Caitlin!

I’m amazed with Caitlin since she is not even two yet (give it a week) and she is forcing us to potty train her. Emelia had a couple false starts, but nobody to really keep up with. Caitlin has had plenty of opportunity to see how it is done with mom, dad and big sis to observe. If she keeps up the good work we may be out of diapers by spring or summer. Hopefully we don’t end up with too many left over diapers and wipes, since we keep a big stock of them.

Fingers crossed.

The only complaint I have and I understand the reasoning is the parking fees were higher than we expected. Instead of being $12 as it usually is, the cost of parking was upped to $20. They do this since the Ex was in session and if they kept parking at $12 they would fill up with cars for people going to The Ex instead of going to Ontario Place.

We started the day off as usual with a small breakfast in our room and headed out early. Despite being within walking distance of a TTC stop we decided we would be more comfortable making the short drive over to the park. Many travel guides suggest taking mass transit at all times in Toronto, but with a family in tow and with little traffic getting around town while driving is well within reason. Parking isn’t cheap, but it is not too bad. If we had known this before we definitely would have driven and parked near the harbour front when we went to the CN Tower and islands.

The drive to the park was uneventful. We had trouble finding the place on a map, but we were able to get directions from a guy that was "parking" his bike in the hotel parking garage. He was your typically friendly and more then eager to be helpful Torontonian.

When we arrived it seemed we would have the place practically to ourselves. We arrived early and it wasn’t too busy this day. There were some other families there, but plenty of parking. We opted to try to sneak in some water bottles this time, but we were pleasantly surprised to see the staff didn’t mind if we brought our own drinks. We probably could have brought lunch in as well, but didn’t think of it ahead of time.

Once inside the park we headed over to the area where the kids would have most fun. It was quite a hike since we had to walk nearly the full length of the place to reach the place. Again the kids had the run of the place. There were only a handful of families there. Emelia headed towards the 40" and taller kids play area. It was a large "building" full of places to climb and get lost. Sue brought Caitlin to another building that had lots of stuff for the littler kids. We all ended up there eventually.

The baby place was perfect for little kids. They had a large selection of toys for infants, a large area for drawing on the wall using chalk, play tables and other kid related toys. They even had a number of baby swings for the littlest of infants. My favorite piece in this room was the ball blowing machine. It was a device with various pipes and chutes that constantly blew air. It was fun to play with, but even better used as a device to blow air into your clothes. On such a hot day it felt great. And the funny part is that I wasn’t the only way. There was a family there from Boston and the dad did the same thing.

We spent some time in the baby area before heading over to the paddle boats. The four of us squeezed into a boat and headed out for a nice, cool trip around the park. It takes a little bit of effort to move four people around, but it was worth it to be on the cool water and to get out to see things from other perspectives.

The girls all geared up and ready to hit the water. These two had no issue or fear with being on a paddle boat in the water.

Caitlin was very happy today.

The heat was getting to the girls so they don’t look too happy here, but of course that could have just been the affect of my presence.

After our boat trip we hit up an entire building that had nothing but machines that blew sponge balls around. With the number of machines blowing balls around and others sucking them up the building was a cacophony of noise. We stayed there a little bit and would have stayed longer but the noise got to us all. Not to mention there was a large number of older kids there that took control of every available device. There wasn’t much for our little girls to do there. So, we headed out into the heat again and walked back towards the water park.

On the way back I took pictures of some of the dinosaur statues that we saw along the way. I’m not sure what these were there for, but they probably were part of some older display or attraction.

More dinosaurs behind fences.

A permanently (?) docked boat.

It was a treat to see this ship in action. I’m not sure if they were associated with the park or not, but it was nice to see.

On the way to the waterpark we also passed by a helicopter tour ride that takes off from the park. Had Sue been willing I would have splurged and brought the whole family for a ride. It was expensive for single persons, but for a family of four we could have gone up and see Toronto from the sky for a mere $200. Not bad considering what you’re getting; a personal helicopter ride. I almost went with just Emelia, but decided against it due to the cost of just the two of us. I also really wanted Sue to enjoy it too. Having a weak stomach she thought better to keep her feet on the ground.

Once we got to the water park we decided to grab a bite to eat and rest in the shade. It isn’t that these days were physically exhausting, but spending so much time in the sun, while carrying gear and kids you are just drained of energy. Fueled up on hot dogs and french fries we changed and headed to the water.

The water park on Ontario Place is decent. Larger than that which is at the Toronto Zoo, but smaller and less crowded than the one at Canada’s Wonderland. The shining star at this park was the huge bucket of water that filled and then spilled over the entire place at regular intervals. Sue and I both partook, but the girls were too small and were not interested in getting soaked.

We spent a long time trying out the various stuff in the park. Many of the good areas were crowded by larger, more aggressive kids so Emelia was a little bit intimidated and therefore didn’t get to do all she wanted to do. I did want to bring her on one of the larger tube rides they had. The kid area measured her at 40", but without shoes the water park so it was a no go. I talked to the girls there and told them about how they measured her early and they forgave the difference in height and let us pass. It was nice of them and I was going with her so no big deal.

The walk up and wait for the tube ride was long, but Emelia did well. We got a chance to see the entire area from the stairs on the way up. Some older girls (8-10 years old) talked with her on the way up. When it was our turn we got a big tube and grabbed hold. On the way down I went backwards and basically pulled her down the whole way. I outweigh Emelia by about 190 pounds so I made the ride fun, but we didn’t turn much. She had an absolute ball. She really surprised me in that she didn’t get scared at all on rides.

Since it took so long we could only make one pass and then we headed back to the locker rooms to change and get ready to head "home". The girls partially wanted to stay, but also were exhausted. Neither had taken a nap so they were wiped out. We headed back to the hotel to shower and rest a bit.

One the drive back I brought Sue around to the St. Lawrence Market area of town. Caitlin and I had been there the night before to buy food at the supermarket and got a chance to spend a couple dollars on donations during a street fair they had going on.

A shot of King Street and the clock tower at the old city hall.

One of the many churches in town. I forget the name of this one. The picture would have been nice had it not been taken through the spider web of cables used by the street cars.

After resting at the hotel we headed out yet again. The girls could not get enough of being out and about so I decided that we could walk over to Nathan Philips Square and see both old and new Toronto city halls.

Here is a nice shot of the nice looking old city hall.

The clock tower attached to the old city hall building.

Another shot of old city hall from Nathan Philips Square.

The water fountain at Nathan Philips Square.

New city hall.

The area is okay, but not much to do. There were a handful of homeless here and a bit of graffiti, but not much else. If you like architecture it’s worth the walk, but otherwise you can get the same feeling driving by  it in a car.

Nathan Philips Square from xiaoniu on Vimeo.

Caitlin!

Emelia!

Sue!

Another shot of old city hall.

The back of old city hall. We took this on our return trip to the Eaton Centre. I wanted to check out the maps for the area at Indigo.

After this trip we headed back to the hotel room for the night. We ate up left overs for dinner and headed to bed. The next day was to be a big day on the road as we made our way home. We only had a couple stops planned, but most of the day would be spent in the car driving.

On the way down we (actually I) made a mistake and didn’t get off when I should have. We ended up going to the next stop where I asked the guy how to transfer in the other direction. He said stay on and he’ll drop us off. He was being funny since the street car turns around after that stop and goes right back to where we wanted to get off originally. No big loss for us, just 10 minutes underground staring at each other while people load and unload.

Once we finally arrived at the place where we were to get on the boat we found a place to buy food for lunch. There were a few choices that Emelia and I scouted out before settling on a deli to get sandwiches, waters and chips. I wasn’t eager to spend a lot of money on lunch. It’s very easy to burn money in any city and three sandwiches, water and a small bag of chips still set us back $24. Eating at a place on the island itself would have set us back much more and for no good reason.

Lunch in had, we bought some tickets from a machine (which if you’re interested appears as a parking lot charge on your credit card) and made our way to the boat. It was busy at the docks since so many people were going out to the islands to get away from the heat. The trip over was uneventful and short, but gave us a great view of the city. When we arrived on the island I gave the camera to Sue so that she could take a few pictures of the surrounding area and the view of the city.

This might have been taken while on the boat, but it wasn’t rocking at the time. Maybe Sue was listing a bit to the side.

Now listing to the opposite side.

Ignoring the ugly tires acting as bumpers you can see a pretty bridge in the distance.

Caitlin was in her normal mood of whiney and clinging to Sue. Her main issue was that she was hungry. We left the boat and found a place to sit and eat.

Right next to the docking area is a huge field of green grass with a sprinkling of picnic tables. We made claim to a table in the shade, rested and ate lunch. We devoured our food. Emelia was a bit skeptical about the sea gulls. They were everywhere and were aggressive enough to come close looking for food and handouts. It took a while, but I was able to show her that the birds were there only to get food and that they would try to get away if you go after them. That was it for her. She had a lot of fun chasing the birds away.

There was a small slide and set of swings in the area, which we checked out. That worked well until we got there and a little boy was being a brat and didn’t want to go down the slide or get off. The care taker (not the mother) was on the ladder the whole time. After a while she got him off and we got a chance to meet each other. The little boy then whacked Caitlin on the head for no good reason. I know kids can be kids, but this was unprovoked. The care taker scolded the boy and took him away, but I felt a bit odd about the whole thing. Caitlin didn’t cry or complain, but wasn’t interested in playing there anymore.

So, we decided to find the beach. We were told there were good beaches on the islands. We rented a large wagon to hold the kids and our stuff while we trekked over to the water. Caitlin would have nobody but Sue pull her so I got a break.

This area is next to the on island amusement park. We opted not to go since were were going to be doing so many other things this week. Not to mention it wasn’t economical to go.

Plenty of wildlife on the island.

A view of personal boats in the water.

The area is picturesque.

By the time we got to the "beach" and changed the girls were not interested in going in. I’m sure the beach was better and larger than it was in the area near the locker rooms, but we were not going to do any more walking to find it. The girls didn’t seem interested. We doubled back and made our way to the wading pools where there were a lot of little kids playing.

I took Caitlin there alone and she worked her way into the pool. She was brave and wanted to go out without help, but found out quickly that she could easily go under the water. She held my hand after than incident. Eventually, Sue and Emelia came by and all the girls ended up in the water.

It was cold and not that well maintained but the kids enjoyed themselves a bit and got a chance to cool off.

Here is a shot of the area where we walked from to get to the wading pools and beach. There were large blocks of plants and gardens along the pathway.

A closer shot of the water fountain.

One of the gardens along the path.

We changed the girls and made our way back to the boat. The trip back was uneventful, but it was clear the family was tired.

Emelia was shot.

The boat was less crowded on the way back and we got on first so we had good seats and a good view of the city. This is one of my favorites views.

And of to the west.

Just east of the CN Tower.

Far east end of Toronto.

After our trip to the island we headed back to the hotel. The girls took a nap and I was sent on the errand of going to Chinatown to buy food and dinner. I didn’t think anything of it at the time, but it did end up taking me over two hours to get there and back with food. I’m shocked at how long it took.

The fastest way over was to take the train and then street car. I wasn’t thinking at the time and realized the hard way that it was Monday and rush hour. Everybody was on their way home from work and transportation was packed. We waited a long time for the streetcar and it was amazing to see how such a large crowd was able to squeeze onto an already packed street car.

We were all jammed in tightly, but despite the conditions everybody including the driver was in a good mood. I didn’t notice any sour faces or angry comments at all. Normally, you have to "stay behind the white line" while on the street car, but we were so full people were up front with the driver and all the way down into the entry way on the stairs. The driver was ready to leave and nicely told the guy in front of me, "Buddy, you’ll have to move your pack. I won’t be able to drive with it bumping into me." The guy said ok and moved it. The driver asked the people near the door if it was all clear so that he could close it, they said go for it and we were off.

Somehow we made it a number of blocks letting a few people on and off. I squeezed off and made my way to my first stop. There was a pastry place that Sue read about. It was nothing like I expected. Unlike the hurried and fast paced stores in New York this was very laid back and easy going. The store specialized in moon cakes, but I just bought things I knew the girls would eat.

Next stop was a small restaurant that made baozi. It was literally a hold in the wall. Very small place with one lonely girl running the place. She was clearly the owners daughter. She wasn’t upset, but she didn’t look happy. She seemed depressed. I ordered up a few dishes and waited. I was also in the area to get dinner, but didn’t have a place in mind. I contemplated getting dinner there, but thought better of it.

I ended up going back to Rol San to order some food. The guys there were nice as they were last time we were there and even obliged my requests for multiple cups of water. I can’t say enough how hot it was. Dinner in had I made my way back to the hotel. The trip back was easier and less crowded since I was trying to go into the heart of the city, not out.

The girls ate up the food and we stayed in the hotel for most of the night. On a few nights I brought both girls out for a walk down Yonge to Dundas and through the Eaton center. I forget, but I believe this was one of those nights. Dundas square seems to always have something going on and this night they had the fountains working. The girls had fun playing with the water that squirted out of the ground while we walked around. They really enjoyed the life of the city. There is certainly to see and experience.

Back to the hotel for some rest. The following day was another big day.

The second fun bit came tonight while Sue, Emelia and I were in the living room together. We were all folding laundry. Emelia did well with her pajamas so I gave her the diaper changing pad cover. I knew it was difficult and gave it to her to see what she would do. She had it for about 10 seconds and brought it over saying that she couldn’t fold it, but she was struggling for the words. I said, “It’s shaped funny, huh?”. She replies, “Yeah, funny. Too fucking funny.” Sue and I took a double take as asked her what she said. She wouldn’t repeated it. We almost couldn’t control ourselves. When we could speak without laughing like hyenas we talked to her about not using that word.

Thankfully for us Caitlin now likes getting her nails cut. No more trying to cut them when she is asleep.